Tamiya's new 350th Yamato and pricing
Discussion
http://www.emodels.co.uk/plastic-kits/tamiya-1350-...
OK, I know it’s all new tooling, and there are a couple of small sheets of photo etched parts and a few other metal parts, but £256.50, for a small 350th scale model? Come on! The ‘normal 350th scale kit of the same ship is under £50 – I could understand it being twice the price but not five times the price.
I can also understand why the Tamiya 32nd plane kits are around the £100 mark, having seen what’s in the kits, but I am struggling to understand the mark up on this particular kit. If you want the ships boats, they’re a separate purchase – if you want turned metal main guns, they are also available separately – not included in this £256.50 kit! I understand that the handrails are included, but they’re individual (a lot easier to design for PE than the normal type – I know) – how small are these! I can understand individual handrails on a 200th scale model, but 350th! (I built the 200th scale Nichimo Yamato many years ago)
Personally, I think that plastic kit prices are getting crazy – add a bit of PE and a couple of lengths of metal rod, or a cheap pre-printed wooden deck, (all of which cost relative peanuts to include), and the price triples!
I was tempted to buy this kit when I first seen it advertised, but I won’t because it simply isn’t worth the cost – especially when you factor in the extra bits you would want to buy to finish it off. Also, that makes it more expensive than some of the best mid-range wooden kits (which have much more PE detail)
I could be wrong, of course. If I am, please enlighten me?
ETA - Just found out that the PE railing are not included with the kit - they too have to be bought separately! bargain!
OK, I know it’s all new tooling, and there are a couple of small sheets of photo etched parts and a few other metal parts, but £256.50, for a small 350th scale model? Come on! The ‘normal 350th scale kit of the same ship is under £50 – I could understand it being twice the price but not five times the price.
I can also understand why the Tamiya 32nd plane kits are around the £100 mark, having seen what’s in the kits, but I am struggling to understand the mark up on this particular kit. If you want the ships boats, they’re a separate purchase – if you want turned metal main guns, they are also available separately – not included in this £256.50 kit! I understand that the handrails are included, but they’re individual (a lot easier to design for PE than the normal type – I know) – how small are these! I can understand individual handrails on a 200th scale model, but 350th! (I built the 200th scale Nichimo Yamato many years ago)
Personally, I think that plastic kit prices are getting crazy – add a bit of PE and a couple of lengths of metal rod, or a cheap pre-printed wooden deck, (all of which cost relative peanuts to include), and the price triples!
I was tempted to buy this kit when I first seen it advertised, but I won’t because it simply isn’t worth the cost – especially when you factor in the extra bits you would want to buy to finish it off. Also, that makes it more expensive than some of the best mid-range wooden kits (which have much more PE detail)
I could be wrong, of course. If I am, please enlighten me?
ETA - Just found out that the PE railing are not included with the kit - they too have to be bought separately! bargain!
Edited by chris watton on Saturday 14th January 16:11
chris watton said:
http://www.emodels.co.uk/plastic-kits/tamiya-1350-...
OK, I know it’s all new tooling, and there are a couple of small sheets of photo etched parts and a few other metal parts, but £256.50, for a small 350th scale model? Come on! The ‘normal 350th scale kit of the same ship is under £50 – I could understand it being twice the price but not five times the price.
I can also understand why the Tamiya 32nd plane kits are around the £100 mark, having seen what’s in the kits, but I am struggling to understand the mark up on this particular kit. If you want the ships boats, they’re a separate purchase – if you want turned metal main guns, they are also available separately – not included in this £256.50 kit! I understand that the handrails are included, but they’re individual (a lot easier to design for PE than the normal type – I know) – how small are these! I can understand individual handrails on a 200th scale model, but 350th! (I built the 200th scale Nichimo Yamato many years ago)
Personally, I think that plastic kit prices are getting crazy – add a bit of PE and a couple of lengths of metal rod, or a cheap pre-printed wooden deck, (all of which cost relative peanuts to include), and the price triples!
I was tempted to buy this kit when I first seen it advertised, but I won’t because it simply isn’t worth the cost – especially when you factor in the extra bits you would want to buy to finish it off. Also, that makes it more expensive than some of the best mid-range wooden kits (which have much more PE detail)
I could be wrong, of course. If I am, please enlighten me?
ETA - Just found out that the PE railing are not included with the kit - they too have to be bought separately! bargain!
Is it radio controlled or something: It says ABS masts for improved durability - why would you need durability for a static scale model?OK, I know it’s all new tooling, and there are a couple of small sheets of photo etched parts and a few other metal parts, but £256.50, for a small 350th scale model? Come on! The ‘normal 350th scale kit of the same ship is under £50 – I could understand it being twice the price but not five times the price.
I can also understand why the Tamiya 32nd plane kits are around the £100 mark, having seen what’s in the kits, but I am struggling to understand the mark up on this particular kit. If you want the ships boats, they’re a separate purchase – if you want turned metal main guns, they are also available separately – not included in this £256.50 kit! I understand that the handrails are included, but they’re individual (a lot easier to design for PE than the normal type – I know) – how small are these! I can understand individual handrails on a 200th scale model, but 350th! (I built the 200th scale Nichimo Yamato many years ago)
Personally, I think that plastic kit prices are getting crazy – add a bit of PE and a couple of lengths of metal rod, or a cheap pre-printed wooden deck, (all of which cost relative peanuts to include), and the price triples!
I was tempted to buy this kit when I first seen it advertised, but I won’t because it simply isn’t worth the cost – especially when you factor in the extra bits you would want to buy to finish it off. Also, that makes it more expensive than some of the best mid-range wooden kits (which have much more PE detail)
I could be wrong, of course. If I am, please enlighten me?
ETA - Just found out that the PE railing are not included with the kit - they too have to be bought separately! bargain!
Edited by chris watton on Saturday 14th January 16:11
I agree on the cost of plastic - most of the big prices seem to be from Asian manufacturers, Tamiya, Trumpeter, Dragon etc but Italeri have rocketed in price during the last few years as well, I would say Revell and Airfix seem to be the most reasonably priced big producers out there.
I know they produce some excellent kits and I know we are subject to exchange rate fluctuations but the rises certainly appear excessive to me.
I know they produce some excellent kits and I know we are subject to exchange rate fluctuations but the rises certainly appear excessive to me.
Hobbylink have it for around £150 with £36 postage.
http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM78025
List price is quoted as Y23,000 or £195.
Does seem quite steep. I know the fall of the Pound against the Yen in the last few years
is often given as a reason in the increse in Far east kit prices. Especially those from
Hasegawa.
A few views form BM
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showt...
http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM78025
List price is quoted as Y23,000 or £195.
Does seem quite steep. I know the fall of the Pound against the Yen in the last few years
is often given as a reason in the increse in Far east kit prices. Especially those from
Hasegawa.
A few views form BM
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showt...
DieselGriff said:
I agree on the cost of plastic - most of the big prices seem to be from Asian manufacturers, Tamiya, Trumpeter, Dragon etc but Italeri have rocketed in price during the last few years as well, I would say Revell and Airfix seem to be the most reasonably priced big producers out there.
I know they produce some excellent kits and I know we are subject to exchange rate fluctuations but the rises certainly appear excessive to me.
I have the excellent Airfix Mosquito kit, and compared to the Asian manufacturer's prices, it is great value for money (and the mouldings are every bit as good as Tamiya's) - if Tamiya produced a kit of this size, I am sure it would be at least twice the price. You could argue that the Airfix kits do not include PE parts, but they should not add an extra £100+ to the kit mark-up - I know how cheap PE is to produce - in any case, the excellent Eduard PE are great, and not too expensive. So you can buy a bog standard Airfix or Revell kit (HE 111 in 32nd scale for example), and spend no more than £30-40 extra for multiple PE fittings, and that still makes the kit around the £100 mark.I know they produce some excellent kits and I know we are subject to exchange rate fluctuations but the rises certainly appear excessive to me.
I do not like the fact that Tamiya are now NOT including essential detail to their most expensive kits, and having them as a separate purchase, I think that's very cynical - if I were to spend over £250 on a small ship kit, I would expect every single option and detail in that box - this is the philosophy I take when designing my kits - I always put myself in the paying customer's shoes - if the detail is related directly to that particular kit, then it should be in the box and included in the price.
I was looking forward to buying that Yamato kit and making a sea diorama, but I am not paying that price for it – over £300 by the time you’ve bought the essential extras.
Gassing Station | Scale Models | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff